There was a greater anticipation for this hearing than the previous ones because, before the trial was suspended 2 weeks ago, the judges had strongly requested that the Prosecutor impress upon his witnesses that they need to show up. Indeed, that was the whole reason for the 2 week suspension; key prosecution witnesses were not appearing. The 2 weeks was to give them time to schedule accordingly.

The main witness, known as Protected Witness 2 (PW2), was the only survivor of the incident in which 11 people lost their lives in a fire that burned the house belonging to the Osortos to the ground. PW2 was pulled from the house, ironically enough, by one of Chabelo's brothers.

Through out the initial investigation PW2 never identified Chabelo as one of those involved. It was only after the prosecution and Henry Osorto, a Sub-Commissioner of the National Police and whose family was involved in the conflict that resulted in the fire, decided to manufacture the case around a photo of Chabelo.

PW2's testimony changed in the first trial from what he had been saying in the investigation. He was now implicating Chabelo and one other person, Carlos Maradiaga, in the murder of Manrique Osorto. His testimony changed again in the 2nd trial due to Maradiaga having been found innocent in the 1st trial. Chabelo was being solely accused by PW2. It was due in part to these irregularities that the Supreme Court annulled, twice, the convictions of Chabelo.

Another important witness is Henry Osorto himself. Although he was not at the house during the incident, he claims that he was on the phone with his nephew, Manrique, during the events that led to Manrique's death. Osorto's testimony changed as well between the 1st and 2nd trials.

These 2 prosecution witnesses, amongst others, are refusing to come to the hearings in Trujillo. The Prosecutor stated that he spoke with Osorto on the phone and Osorto says that it is too dangerous for him and the other witnesses to go to Trujillo.

It is important to note that Osorto was recently elevated from a Sub-Commisioner to a Commisioner of the National Police. He has sufficient resources at his disposal to ensure his and the other witnesses' safety.

In today's hearing, the Prosecutor solicited the court to have the trial moved to La Ceiba or Tegucigalpa where Osorto feels safer (?). He also solicited that 3 prosecution witnesses be removed from having to testify. The judges asked the Defense if they agreed with the elimination of these testimonies. The Defense accepted this and the judges let it stand.

On the question of moving the trial which would require another suspension, the judges asked for the Defense's response. Atty Omar Menjivar stated that by law trials could not be suspended for more than 15 days. This trial has already had a 10 day suspension and the chances of getting it added to the docket in La Ceiba or Tegus in less than 5 days would be almost impossible. Omar also stipulated that the law states that "victims" have the right to testify, but there is no legal obligation that they do so. In other words, if they don't show up, the court is under no obligation to compel them to nor make it more convenient for them to. They have the power to order a witness to appear, but they are under no obligation to.

The judges deliberated at the bench for a short period than stated that today's hearing would be adjourned so that they could consider thoroughly the Prosecution's solicitation and they would deliver their decision.

There was one witness for the prosecution today, a medical examiner from the Public Ministry. His testimony consisted of his having examined PW2 and confirming that he had received wounds from a high caliber arm. He had no evidence that connected Chabelo to the incident.

It is clear that Osorto is once again manipulating the court proceedings. There is much speculation as to his true motive beyond his claims of safety. Some speculate that it is a psychological game to keep Chabelo and the Guadalupe Carney community off balance and fearful that this nightmare will never end. Others state that Osorto is buying time to solidify his plan to kidnap and assassinate Chabelo to keep the trial from having the possible outcome of Chabelo's innocence.

Chabelo accompanied byGreg McCain October 5, 2015

Whatever the true motives, it is clear that Osorto has the power to manipulate the justice system as he has done for the past 7 years with regard to Chabelo's case. Just as Chabelo's incrimination has become a symbol for the criminalization of campesinos and social movements across Honduras, his court hearings are emblematic of how the justice system works only for those with power. It has only been through the collective power of the national and international human rights communities that Chabelo and his defense team have pushed through the corruption and kept his case alive to fight another day.

Help keep the pressure up. Spread the word through your social networks. Use the hashtags #justiceforchabelo #justiciaparachabelo

Friday, October 16, 2015

V. Cervantes October 12, 2015Social movements; movements and communities in permanent resistance, and organizations with a vision of popular power built from below, met in a national assembly in early October in El Progreso. The Social and Popular Movements Platform was formed two years ago with the goal of building unity among these movements to “retake the strategic political initiative” for a “national transformation”.

The October 2015 assembly had representatives from more than 20 organizations, somewhat smaller than at their founding assembly. The meeting discussed the challenges they face from the new dictatorship represented by President Juan Orlando Hernandez, the general economic-political crises in the country, repression and criminalization of social protest, and the urgent need for unity by the social movements and groups that want fundamental change. The assembly agreed on a communiquethat summarizes their goals, demands and their solidarity with others under attack by the current regime and power groups. The gathering also ratified the Platform’s commitment to “continue building popular power based on a citizens’ mobilization and a proposal to create the structural change that Honduran society wants; to build popular power with a people’s communication media… and to continue working in an ethical, honest, respectful and fraternal manner to advance unity…..at the national and international level.”

photo V. Cervantes

Social movements in Latin America refer to movements that represent certain sectors of society, for example, campesinos, labor, indigenous peoples, or women. The social movement organizations and other groups active in the Platform include the organizations that formed the “Refoundational” trend in the FNRP and were opposed to the FNRP’s move into electoral politics with LIBRE, for example, COPINH, OFRANEH, and the Movimiento Amplio para Dignidad y Justicia (MADJ), as well as the Jesuit human rights, social research and communication group, ERIC-SJ/Radio Progreso. The assembly also had the participation of important campesino organizations from the Bajo Aguan and regional centers of the CNTC that participate in LIBRE and the FNRP, but also represent the campesino sector as a social movement. The campesino organizations spoke eloquently about the need for unity if they are to have a chance to survive the current attacks against them and win any space for their communities with an agrarian reform. The coordinator of OFRANEH, Mirian Mirando and of COPINH, Berta Caceres, spoke strongly about the attacks and challenges to their peoples’ continued existence as peoples and the difficult situation for their movements. Also participating in the meeting were human rights defenders, environmentalist community organizations, activists from poor people's movements (pobladores), the indignant (indignados) movement, unions, and popular movements from the Aguan.

October 1
Photo Honduras Tierra Libre

There was thoughtful discussion at the assembly about the last two years and the challenges brought to the social movements by the rise of the Indignados (Indignant) movement. There was an acknowledgement that as the Platform they had difficulty in developing a program or relationship related to the indignados. The indignado movement rose massively in the Spring of 2015, against corruption and impunity, and demanding an international, independent investigative commission (CICIH), after the blatant corruption of President Hernandez’s government and National Party in robbing more than 350 million dollars from the public health system was uncovered. However, there were several different orientations in that movement including people and groups from the resistance movement against the coup, people who were opposed to the coup but stayed outside the FNRP, as well as people and groups that supported the coup in 2009 but were outraged by the corruption. The indignados movement as a mass response was analyzed to be fading out; it was noted that turn out for a national day of action on October 1st by the indignados closest to the FNRP and youth organization was very small numerically compared to earlier mobilizations and was boycotted by the more conservative sectors of the indignados. Despite being much smaller than before, there were highway takeovers and other actions in many parts of the country and in multiple neighborhoods of Tegucigalpa, all of which were repressed by military and police forces. The assembly discussed concern on how to build unity with the people and groups that were activated by this indignation and who share the desire for structural change in Honduras.

Repression - October 1
photo Honduras Tierra Libre

Another point of discussion was concern by many of the participants in the assembly was that once the electoral season opens again (next year), it will be even more difficult to mobilize for action in support of the social movements’ ongoing and permanent resistance because of the “electoral fever” generated by the media and the political parties.

The PMSP reiterated its support and participation in the campaigns in defense of the defenders of the right to public education, the right to land, common-good resources, freedom of expression and women’s rights; called for justice for all the assassinated activists, condemned criminalization and repression against protest and social movements and declared the struggles of the Garifuna people as well as indigenous peoples in general to be the struggle of all the movements.

Friday, October 9, 2015

The country is buzzing about the arrest of Yankel Rosenthal in Miami for money laundering and the indictment of Jaime and Yani Rosenthal from one of the most powerful families in Honduras. Karen Spring, the Honduras Coordinator for the Honduras Solidarity Network has a very thoughtful piece in her Aquí Abajo blog that that lays out both background and things to think about in this "war on drugs" run by Washington DC. Talking about wars, I am publishing below an article from my visit on Wednesday with the campesino leaders in Progreso from the CNTC.

The National Center for Rural Workers (CNTC) in the province of Yoro has 42 organized communities, each with several cooperative projects (campesino empresas). Magdalena Morales is the general secretary and we were joined by Francisco, Julian and Bernabe, the other members of the regional secretariat. I was eager to get an update on one of their communities in Sulaco that, on August 18th, was violently evicted from its land after 15 years. The community is named Hernando Figueroa and has been home to two former national General Secretaries of the CNTC.

Sulaco eviction

At least 200 police and military, accompanied by the government Human Rights Commission, arrived at the community with 12 patrol cars, an ambulance, firemen and armored vehicle. No eviction order was shown, but the troops destroyed 20 homes, an evangelical church and about 350 acres of beans, corn and other food crops which represented all the community's cultivation. Only the intervention by phone of a regional official from the government's Agrarian Institute stopped the violence before the Catholic church and preschool and water purification system were destroyed.

Magdalena said that the government of Juan Orlando Hernandez seems to have new protocols for violence in evictions: using quantities of tear gas, sending in ambulances, firemen and armored vehicles with larger numbers of both military and police troops---as if they were going to war. The group talked about the recent attacks on settlements in Choluteca and Villanueva as examples of how far the government is willing to go in making poor people homeless. Those attacks were documented by social and traditional media so that the whole country could see them, most evictions are not shown on television.

The group also talked about the ongoing intimidations against campesino leaders. In Progreso there was an intense campaign against the CNTC, especially Magdalena during the recuperation of land claimed by the ASUNOSA corporation (part of SAB Miller's operations). Magdalena was criminally charged and all the leadership was threatened. The case against Magdalena was finally negotiated but there remain threats and intimidations, such as surveillance of the leaders' movements. The group felt, in general, that the Hernandez government has unleashed a new campaign against campesino organizations and communities with threats, evictions and the criminalization of the campesino social movement. They said that one of the key fights for the agrarian movement is to fight this criminalization and intimidation.

Julian, Francisco, Bernabe

Francisco explained that his community, 6 de April, is also under threat of eviction after more than 11 years on their land. They were being titled under President Zelaya's decree (18-2008), which was aimed at resolving hundreds of long-standing agrarian conflicts in favor of the campesinos living and working on recuperated land. After the coup, the decree was annulled and, in the case of 6 de April, a big landowner claimed the land, first demanding payment from the Agrarian Institute and when that was denied moving to the courts to claim title to the land. The campesinos have now been told by the Agrarian Institute that they need to get a lawyer to defend their title, but they do not have the resources to hire private representation. Juan Orlando Hernandez has slashed the budget and and functions of the Agrarian Institute in the past few years so that it no longer provides the same legal and advisory services to the campesinos that it once did.

Magdalena with poster
for Credi-Mujer Law

In the middle of this discussion a reporter and cameraman from the television station, TV Progreso arrived to interview Magdalena about a recent success for the campesino movement, the passage of the Credi-Mujer law in Congress. This law is aimed at increasing gender equity so that poor women and campesinas in the rural areas can get access to credit and other economic assistance. Magdalena talked about the importance of this access in a country with a high percentage of women headed households and single mothers who are struggling to survive. After the reporter left she told me that there are some people who don't feel this small victory is important but that she and other women leaders believe that it will not only help women directly but indirectly will increase access to other services and assistance for poor women in the countryside.

Magdalena began talking about the determination of the organized campesino movement to begin the fight again for Congress to pass their project, the Law for Integral Agrarian Reform with Gender Equity. She said that they had not been able to win in Congress over the past two years but are gearing up to fight again because only with a just agrarian reform will it be possible to begin to address the extreme poverty and the agrarian conflicts and violence against communities in the countryside.

Margarita Murillo

Another important campaign that Magdalena said they want to take up is an independent investigation of the assassination of Margarita Murillo, a campesina leader and member of the resistance, killed on August 26, 2014, in nearby Villanueva while working on her parcel of land.

Margarita was a founding member of an early campesino organization, the FENACAMH (National Unity Campesino Front) and of the CNTC. She was kidnaped and tortured during the repressive period of the 1980's and had to go into hiding. She returned and after the coup became active in the resistance. At the time of her murder she had protective measures ordered by the Interamerican Human Rights Commission but, as is usual, the Honduran government had not complied with requirements to provide protection. Magdalena said that there is a real need for an independent investigation to find out the facts because otherwise there will not be a serious attempt to know what happened.

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Below are links to two statements in support of Chabelo Morales, one from La Voz de los de Abajo and one from Alliance for Global Justice, published by Radio Progreso and taped during this accompaniment visit for Chabelo's new trial. The trial is set to reconvene on October 19th. There is much hope for his complete liberty but concerns remain for his security as well as that of his family and community.

Meanwhile Honduras has been rocked today by the news that a member of the powerful Rosenthal family (Yankel Rosenthal) was arrested in Miami for money laundering and that the patriarch of the family media and agricultural empire (Jaime Rosenthal) and politician (Yany Rosenthal) as well as the Rosenthal bank (Banco Continental) are also named for money laundering of dirty (narcotics and organized crime) money. Yankel was a Vice Minister in President Juan Orlando Hernandez's government until recently. More to come on this twist later.

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

In honor of the International Monetary Fund congratulating the Honduran government on its economic successes (La Prensa October 6) and Honduras Armed Forces Day on October 3rd, today we visited the community of Regalo de Dios (Gift from God) in Villanueva, Cortes, between Progreso and San Pedro Sula.

The Regalo de Dios community was evicted from its land on September 23, 2015 by police and military who killed a 16 year old boy during the violent attack against the settlement.

The community had lived on the land for more than 7 years, constructing houses of cinderblock as well as wood, a church, and other buildings. 70 families live there and there were 20 houses under construction at the time of the eviction which started at 6 am on the morning of the 23rd when

police and military under the command of the Commissioner of the National Police in San Pedro Sula arrived. Members of the community told us that at least 32 troops came in and went house by house, beating and shoving around men, women and children while forcing them out of their homes. The people were yelling at the police and soldiers while moving and the police began firing tear gas. At some point many more troops arrived. Residents from the surrounding neighborhoods began arriving to support the people in Regalo de Dios and the police fired more gas and then began firing live ammunition.

Tear gas blanketed the area not only of Regalo de Dios but the entire area, made of numerous settlements on both sides of the highway. There was so much gas that it was heavy even at a school in session at least the distance of 3 football fields away from Regalo de Dios. One of the women told us that she and a boy ran from her home and took refuge in another building a little further away from the police but that the gas was so asphyxiating that they felt like they might die, and had to run further away. A nine month old baby was severely affected and had to be rushed to the hospital. The men we talked to told us that not only were the police and soldiers using incredible quantities of gas but they also were firing the canisters directly at the people, not up in the air, so that many people were injured by the canisters.

The 16 year old boy, Fernando Castro was not even in Regalo de Dios but was with others who either fled or had come from other communities and were outside the land when he was fatally wounded by the gunfire from the police and army.

The authorities finished by bringing in bulldozers and destroying the homes and community church. (Video from Facebook via Orlin Martinez Almendares.

The community leaders told us that this land was originally part of the Tela Company property (the US corporation that became part of Standard Fruit and owned most of the northern coast of Honduras for much of the 20th century. When the Company left it gave the land over to the Honduran government, thus making it eligible for distribution to people for agrarian reform. The landowner claiming the land is Alejandrina Elan Maldonado, the widow of Carlos Israel Martinez — the community leaders say that neither Carlos nor Alejandrina legitimately have title. One man told us that, “it always happens that the State and all its forces just favor the rich and not poor people like us”.

Meanwhile the IMF conducted its second review of the Honduran government’s economic program and approved the structural reforms and policies for economic development, predicting that the Honduran economy will grow 3.6% in 2016. Roberto Garcia Saltos, head of the IMF mission to Honduras this month said that, “We congratulate the Honduran government on its macroeconomic success….The mission is pleased to by the positive results achieved thanks to the appropriate political and economic decisions made in the past 22 months.”

These decisions include support for “charter or model” cities, destruction of the public health system and violent evictions and an intensification of the criminalization of the agrarian land movements. It is all too obvious that any growth occurring is not for the country’s poor.

Photo La Prensa, Honduras

The eviction in Regalo de Dios occurred while Juan Orlando Hernandez was in the area celebrating the inauguration of various government projects and handing out baskets of food in the extremely poor agricultural communities in Yoro which have been devastated by the drought and government policies.

On October 3rd, the military was celebrated (and by extention, the government's policy of militarization throughout the country) by the government with a massive parade and festival in the national stadium in Tegucigalpa and smaller activities in some other areas. The people of Regalo de Dios are in no mood to celebrate repression; the families there have started returning to the land and rebuilding homes, but they fear what might happen in the future.

Sunday, October 4, 2015

The retrial of Chabelo Morales Lopez is recessed until October 19th; our group remains accompanying the family in the community of Guadalupe Carney but we decided to make a visit to the small city of Trujillo close to Guadalupe where we arrived in the middle of the "day of the environment" action.

Trujillo is an old Spanish colonial city right on a beautiful bay on the sea. It is a part of the Garifuna coast where the Garifuna people have ancestral rights to the coast under international and national agreements. It is on the edge of of the Aguan Valley's fertile palm growing region, home to thousands of campesinos and their communities as well as to the wealthiest landowners in the country like Miguel Facusse, Reynaldo Canales and Rene Morales: perpetrators of incredible violence against campesino and Garifuna groups in the region.

Another piece of the land conflicts in the region has to do with the struggle to protect the environment and includes the concerns of most of the residents of the area about the destruction caused by mining, tourism and mega-agricultural projects.

The action we saw today was part religious procession, part parade and part protest march with several hundred people carrying placards and banners, children dressed as animals riding on colorfully decorated "floats" created on pick-up trucks. The paticipants were Garifunas, campesinos, school children, nuns, and a variety of Trujillo residents. I spoke with one of the participants who told me the Catholic church in Trujillo was the main organizer of the action with the participation of a lot of different people. They were chanting slogans such as "no puede ser indiferente--a la defensa del ambiente" (you can't be indifferent to the defense of the environment) and against the new (2013) mining law which granted more concessions to private mining companies. Around 35% of the total country is now concessioned to mining and hydroelectric projects. Communities, especially indigenous and rural communities, all over Honduras are resisting displacement and/or the contamination of their water and soil. In the Trujillo area there are dozens of mining concessions that the people oppose. We talked earlier in the week to one of the long time campesino leaders at Guadalupe Carney who is part of a regional group organizing to resist the mining companies and the Honduran government and keep mining out of the area.

Another big environmental and land tenancy issue is related to the attempts
to develop mega-tourism in the area. Randy Jorgensen (the Canadian porn king millionaire) is one of the highest profile "developers". He is leading an aggressive and threatening push to displace the Garifuna communities in the Trujillo area so that he and his investors can take over the beaches for cruise ship landings and high end large tourist resorts. This kind of development degrades the fragile environment in the area as well as displacing the indigenous Garifuna from their land and destroying their way of life and stability. So far the communities have resisted despite threats of violence and it was good to see the different groups whose lives are affected joining together.

The UK based group, Global Witness, issued a report earlier this year that showed that Honduras has had the highest per capita rate of people murdered because of their activities to defend the earth and environment, for each of the past five years, than any other country in the world. In 2014, three quarters of these murders were in Central and South America, including 12 in Honduras. Global Witness reported that world-wide these murders and conflict in general are increasing because of the intensifying competition over land and land use and the fact that the lack of government action to protect people or environment is putting the ordinary residents and their organizations on the front lines of the conflict.

Friday, October 2, 2015

Vicki Cervantes of La Voz de los de Abajo and HSN is accompanying Chabelo Morales' new trial for two weeks along with Karen Spring of the HSN and other international observers.

Friday, October 2, 2015

V. Cervantes

Thursday evening the electric power went out in Guadalupe Carney and with no television, radio or lights for distraction, some folks went to bed very early, while some of us stayed up burning through candles, telling stories about the history of the community, and sharing rumors and gossip about the powerful military figures and oligarchs active in the Aguan. One of the young campesinos talked about how after taking over the land that had been a US military facility, the campesinos found graves, ammunition shells, and more on the lands. I remembered that not long after the land recuperation the La Voz de los de Abajo was given a copy of military documents found by the MCA campesinos at Guadalupe that included a list of Honduran, Nicaraguan and Salvadoran prisoners who had been held in the clandestine detention center run by the US and Honduran military at the base. The young campesino told us the story that circulated in Guadalupe in those early days about a campesino ghost with high rubber boots full of water who could be heard walking around near the village. For sure there are many ghosts, victims of the military, oligarchs, and big land lords past and present, who are still walking the valley, looking for justice.

Early in the morning Friday it started pouring rain and everyone was worried about how the rain might keep supporters away from the courthouse. Amazingly, the sky cleared and we piled into the back of a pick-up truck ourselves for the short ride from Guadalupe Carney to the court in Trujillo. When we got there Chabelo and the Morales family were happy to see that a sizable group of campesinos and campesinas from Guadalupe Carney and supporters from the San Alonzo Foundation and the Human Rights Observatory of the Aguan were there waiting for Chabelo to arrive. The defense team accompanied by members of ERIC-SJ and Radio Progreso arrived shortly and the trial began.

Day 5 in Court:

Today two prosecution witnesses appeared but the testimony again was limited to forensic details regarding ballistics analysis and once again there was no evidence was presented linked to the accusations against Chabelo. After about an hour the testimony was complete and the judges announced that the trial would adjourn for the day and not convene again until October 19 because there were still problems in locating important prosecution witnesses and October 7,8, 9 are holidays and the court decided not to work those days. The defense lawyers objected to the fact that the prosecution witnesses,especially the key witness, Henry Osorto, were not complying with orders to appear in court and asked for the court to issue edicts requiring their presence and if they don’t show up to go ahead and let the defense present its case. They also proposed that if Henry Osorto fails to show up again he lose his status as victim (which implies a certain leniency towards his no-shows). After much conferring among themselves the judges agreed to set a schedule so that defense witnesses could know when they will be called and to issue edicts for all scheduled witnesses to appear. Under Honduran law ignoring the orders to appear can result in charges of “disobedience” to the court similar to “contempt of court” charges.

PRESS CONFERENCE: “URGENT TO CONTINUE ACCOMPANIMENT AND SUPPORT”

After the court adjourned, the defense team, international and Honduran supporters and one of Chabelo’s brothers, Merlin Morales headed to Tocoa, the main city in the Aguan Valley, about an hour away from Trujillo, for a press conference that was facilitated by a lawyer from ERIC-SJ, Brenda Mejia who has been observing the trial since it began.

At the press conference defense lawyers, Omar Menjiva and Sara Aquilar explained what was going on in the court and the significance of the delays. Sara spoke eloquently about the symbolic importance of Chabelo’s case for the campesino movement and emphasized the urgent need for international observers and local supporters to continue to accompany Chabelo, his family and the community despite the obstruction and delays.

The Guatemalan jurist accompanying the trial, Dr. Henry Monroy, also spoke and noted strongly his view that the case of Chabelo is an example of the criminalization of social protest, in this case the just struggle for land -- the agrarian movement. He called for a regional solidarity presence from Central America and denounced the fact that intimidations against the family and Chabelo continue, including strange men appearing in the community near family homes and following vehicles.

Thursday, October 1, 2015

It was already dark Wednesday evening when we got off the bus at the entrance to the community of Guadalupe Carney on the highway to Trujillo. We walked through the community, quiet except for the dogs and roosters announcing our arrival, to the house where we are staying while we accompany Chabelo, his family and community during this trial.

During the bus ride we were listening to Radio Globo’s audio broadcast of a video from a very violent eviction of campesinos in Palomar, near Choluteca, by the National Police in which one campesino was killed and many injured. The audio was chilling with women and children screaming, people yelling and the noise of tear gas and people running. Those sounds were still ringing in my ears as I looked at the community that has been a symbol of success for organized campesino recuperation of lands since its beginnings 15 years ago when 900 families moved on to an abandoned joint US/Honduran military base. Despite evictions, assassinations, and all the problems that affect the poorest campesinos, the community persisted and fought to win titles to most of the land they cultivate; only two landowners continue to dispute the campesinos’ right to the land, the most powerful landowners in Honduras, the Facusse family, and former military death squad member, now a police commissioner, Henry Osorto.

Today, Thursday, the Morales family and supporters from Guadalupe Carney, the Human Rights Observatory of the Aguan, COPA, Fundacion San Lorenzo and other campesino movements in the Aguan mobilized early to get to the court in Trujillo before 9am. Only a handful of people were allowed into the courtroom to observe, but everyone else continued their accompaniment by hanging up banners and placards in from of the court and maintaining a visible presence, keeping an eye on the 8 or so armed soldiers who were standing watch outside. In the courtroom we watched the panel of judges file into the room and call for the prosecution witnesses. One witness appeared, a doctor who received the body of Carlos Manrique Osorto; the doctor read out loud his original statement which details the injuries but, of course, has no information or evidence relevant to the charges against Chabelo. That testimony lasted about 20 minutes then it was announced that none of the other prosecution witnesses had come to court, including Henry Osorto and that the trial would reconvene tomorrow morning.

The trial so far, like the previous 2 trials, has seen no concrete evidence presented linking Chabelo to the death of Carlos Manrique Osorto and has been marked by the failure of witnesses called by the prosecution to show up to testify. Henry Osorto himself has missed two scheduled appearances. (See the report from Greg McCain below for Tuesday and Wednesday’s court sessions).

Of course, we can only imagine what would happen if campesino witnesses ignored the summons to court to testify, but it is unlikely they would be allowed to delay a trial the way the prosecution witnesses are doing.

It seems that these delays, that may now stretch out the trial through the end of the month, are part of a strategy to wear out the supporters; reduce the number of international observers and hope that the Honduran media and people lose interest in Chabelo’s chance for justice. This is important also because attempts to intimidate defense witnesses and fear of violence against Chabelo, his family and the community to prevent a verdict in his favor continue.

This afternoon, we gathered with Chabelo and his family members and were watching the news on TV Globo when the video of the eviction in Choluteca was aired. We were frozen with outrage and sadness, watching the police attack the campesino community, mostly women of all ages and a few young men and small children. The women rushed to defend the community members being beaten and one woman passed out with blood seeming to pour out of a head wound. The policeman stood over her and a young man lying on the ground, with his combat style nightstick still raised. The TV Globo commentator was indignant and cited the statistics that there is enough land for everyone in Honduras to have 20 manzanas (50 acres) of land. One of Chabelo's brothers turned to me to say, imagine what we could do if everyone had land like they are saying, but the big landowners and government only want to do that, and he pointed at the violence on the screen.

We also got word that today there were multiple protests blocking streets in Tegucigalpa as students, youth and other resistance members continued the protests against Juan Orlando Hernandez. The police violently displaced all the blockades.
----------------------------------------------------------------Greg McCainDefensor Internacional de Derechos Humanos HondurasSeptember 30, 2015 Yesterday, after the lunch time break, the trial resumed with a witness
for the prosecution. It was an investigator from the DNIC, his testimony
was intende to basically to back up one of the protected witnesses'
testimony. Instead he added to the inconsistency of the testimony by
stating that the protected witness stated that he could identify with
100% certainty who killed Enrique Osorto, the man Chabelo is accused of
killing. The problem being that the protected witness has changed his
testimony on several occasions, unable to identify Chabelo until
instructed to by investigators.

This was the only
testimony given before the hearing ended for the day. The other
witnesses for the prosecution didn't show up so the judges adjourned for
the day.

Today, the trial started around 9:30am.

Again
only one prosecution witness showed up. This was a fireman from
Trujillo who got to the scene after the fact. He wanted to read his
testimony from a notebook that he brought in, but the judges told him he
needed to tell it from his own memory. He basically offered nothing to
the prosecutor's case against Chabelo.

The
judges wanted to offer suggestions on how to proceed in light of the
prosecution witnesses not showing nor being able to state when they will
show up. This includes Henry Osorto. The Prosecutor informed the judges
that Osorto was upset with being expected to state exactly when he
would show up
stating, "he is concerned for his saftey and can't give specifics in
advance." This from a police officer who has recently been promoted to a
police commissioner thus having the entire police force at his
disposal.

It was finally decided that the hearings would proceed tomorrow and Friday.
If the two protected witnesses didn't show the prosecution agreed to
give up that evidence. The judges then stated that after this Friday the trial would be suspended until Oct 19th
so that the Prosecution could have ample time to have their agenda for
witnesses in place. Nevermind that they had 2 months since the initial
hearing to get their agenda in place, let's see what they accomplish in
19 days.

After the
hearing I spoke with one of the international jurists who are here to
observe. He stated that it appeared to him that it was obvious
manipulation of judicial proceedings on Osorto's part and that the
judges had the power to order him to testify on a specific date.

In
the meantime, more suspicious men have been seen walking around
Guadalupe Carney. Yesterday, two of Chabelo' sisters saw a man enter the
yard of Chabelo's mom stood there for awhile than wandered off.

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Thirty-two organizations signed a letter of support, demanding freedom for campesino political prisoner, Jose Isabel "Chabelo" Morales Lopez as his third trial on the same charges begins. La Voz de los de Abajo will join others in accompanying the trial later this week. On Monday September 28th, organizations from the region including the Jesuit communications organization ERIC-SJ held a press conference with distinguished international jurists who are observing the trial. Here for Spanish news storyWe publish the letter and a report on the first day of the trial from Greg McCain, a human rights observer living in Honduras. Chabelo's new trial comes at a time when Honduras continues to reel from the corruption and violence that has increased as the coup governments continue their projects of privatization/impoverishment, militarization and land grabbing. The resistance movement and the newer movement against corruption that is made up of more than one distinct grouping continue to be in the streets in protest.

La Voz's observer will be in Honduras for two weeks and will be sharing observations and information on this blog.29 - Sept-2015

September 2015

As representatives from the international human rights and solidarity community, we come together to demand justice for José Isabel “Chabelo” Morales during his retrial. In that there are currently over 5000 campesinos with judicial proceedings against them, Chabelo’s case is emblematic of the criminalization of peasant farmers (campesinos) who struggle for access to land.

In light of the persistent violations to human rights in Honduras, we demand:

⦁ That Chabelo’s retrial scheduled for September 28th - October 9th, 2015 be fair and impartial.

Further, we demand unconditional freedom for Chabelo.

⦁ A full investigation into human rights violations and judicial irregularities surrounding all of Chabelo’s judicial hearings.

⦁ A full investigation into the ongoing threats and intimidation against the Morales family and community of Guadalupe Carney.

⦁ A full investigation into the abuse of authority of Colonel Henry Osorto Canales who was recently nominated for advancement from Sub-Commissioner of the National Police to the position of Commissioner.

⦁ A suspension of aid to Honduran police, military and security until the human rights violations perpetrated by these forces ceases; specifically, the continued aid by the United States to the National Police and funding to the Public Prosecutors office (Ministerio Publico) given the ongoing abuses.

José Isabel “Chabelo” Morales López, 39, was in prison for 6 years, 9 months, and 7 days for a crime that he did not commit. He and his family are campesinos in the Aguán Valley in the heart of the African palm-producing region of the northern coast of Honduras. His arrest and imprisonment were aimed at punishing and criminalizing the campesino movement in Honduras as well as being products of the well-documented corruption and impunity that has this country in its grip. Chabelo is recognized as being unjustly imprisoned by numerous human rights and rural advocacy groups including Via Campesina, SOAW, FIAN International, COFADEH and ERIC-SJ.

Chabelo was arrested in October 2008 after heavily armed members of Henry Osorto’s family and private security attacked the campesinos in an attempt to illegally take land that had been legally granted to the campesinos. One campesino was killed by shots from the Osorto house and 11 members of the Osorto group were left dead. In a clear conflict of interest and abuse of authority, Henry Osorto led the investigation which was incomplete, inconsistent, and forensically questionable.

Arrest warrants for 36 residents of Chabelo’s community were issued without evidence that the individuals were involved. Chabelo was one of them, he and one other person were the only ones arrested and charged with 11 counts of murder, arson, and robbery despite there being no concrete evidence of their involvement. At his trial over two years after his detention (a clear violation of the Honduran Penal Code, and notably after the military coup in June 2009) the charges were reduced to one count of homicide. The other person was found not guilty due to contradictions in the testimony of the prosecution witnesses and yet they let these same contradictions stand in the conviction of Chabelo.

The panel of judges found Chabelo guilty despite a lack of evidence and the contradictory stories, but sentencing was delayed for over 2 years. Because of that and many other irregularities, the Honduran Supreme Court annulled his conviction and ordered a new trial which took place in January 2014. The new trial was moved to another department, but was assigned judges from the Aguán, including two who had refused to release Chabelo from prison pending the new trial, a clear violation of the Supreme Court order. The defense asked for the two judges to recuse themselves but lost the decision.

Prosecution witnesses including Henry Osorto perjured themselves once again, radically changing their testimony and contradicting their sworn statements in an attempt to incriminate Chabelo. The judges refused to allow the defense to place those contradictions into the record. The prosecution echoed statements made by Osorto about the small farmers in general being violent terrorists rather than giving evidence as to Chabelo’s involvement. Defense witnesses presented the same testimony as previously, noting that Chabelo was not present at the scene when the confrontation and deaths occurred. The judges found Chabelo guilty and he was sentenced to 17.5 years. Chabelo’s defense lawyers filed an appeal, which was finally reviewed by the Supreme Court.

The court once again annulled the conviction and sentencing based on procedural inconsistencies on the part of the prosecutor and judges, but once again ordered a retrial. The Defense also solicited the court to free Chabelo pending the retrial based on numerous violations to the penal code. This was the seventh solicitation in five years based on these violations.

The initial hearing of the retrial was held on July 24th, 2015 in La Ceiba. The magistrates quickly ruled in favor of Chabelo’s release based on the violations and scheduled the retrial to be held between September 28th and October 9th in Trujillo.

Based on the clear violations to the human rights of Chabelo Morales, we demand his unconditional freedom. In addition to the demands stated above we further demand protection from retaliation on the part of Colonel Henry Osorto Canales against Chabelo Morales and his family.

Signed,

1) La Voz de los de Abajo, Chicago

2) Alliance for Global Justice

3) Nicaragua Center for Community Action (NICCA), Berkeley, CA

4) International Action Center

5) Michigan Emergency Coalition Against War and Injustice

6) Colectivo Honduras USA Resistencia=libre (D19/New York)

7) Task Force On the Americas

8) San Francisco School of the Americas Watch (SOAWSF)

9) Latin America Solidarity Committee, Milwaukee

10) Bay Area Latin American Solidarity Committee (BALASC)

11) The Cross Border Network, Kansas City, MO

12) Portland Central America Solidarity Committee

13) Hondureños Por La Pachamama

14) Oakland - School of the Americas Watch, USA

15) Hondureños D19 Northern California

16) Radios Populares, Chicago

17) Witness for Peace Southwest

18) Gay Liberation Network, Chicago

19) US El Salvador Sister Cities

20) Inter-Faith Committee on Latin America, St. Louis

21) School of the Americas Watch (SOAW)

22) Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America (CRLN)

23) FIAN Internacional - Sección Honduras

24) Movimiento Ambientalista Santabarbarense (MAS)

25) Foro de Mujeres por la Vida

26) COLLETTIVO ITALIA CENTRO AMERICA, CICA

27) Grassroots International

28) Observatorio Permanente de Derechos Humanos del Aguán

29) Voices for Creative Nonviolence

30) Workers World Party

31) Loretto - Kansas City

32) 8th Day Center for Justice, Chicago

Chabelo with defense team and supporters 2014

The Trial Begins - September 29, 2015

Yesterday was the opening session for Chabelo Morales' 2nd retrial. It didn't get started until a little before 2pm. It consisted mostly of the formality of the judges setting the ground rules and listening to opening arguments of each side. The highlight came when the defense team solicited the court to only allow evidence related to the one charge of homicide which Chabelo was convicted of and later anulled and to not put Chabelo in Double (triple?) Jeopardy by having to defend himself against the 13 other charges of which he was found innocent in the previous 2 trials. In a huge victory the judges sided with the defence thus eliminating about 70% of the Prosecutor's evidence. This motion by the judges set this trial in a completely different frame from the previous trial and kinda guaranteed that the trial won't last the entire scheduled 10 days.

On day 2, which began at 9:30 today, and is currently on a lunch break until 2pm, the prosecution witnesses presented their testimonies. Mainly it consisted of them affirming that the signatures on documents from the investigation and a previous trial were theirs and the defence pointing out discrepancies in their testimonies.

The Prosecutor is not the same one from the previous trial and he appears to not be too invested in prosecuting this case. He has not prepared questions for the witnesses and so asks one, maybe two, and when the Defense pressed one of the witnesses regarding his inconsistencies the Prosecutor didn't contest or attempt to counter in any way.

This trial once again, as in the previous trials, underscores the fact that there is no credible case against Chabelo and that these show trials have been a farse since the beginning.

Monday, August 10, 2015

On July 31st, Honduran indignad@s which included members of the political opposition, indigenous activists, human rights defenders, students ended their hunger strike which was begun in June to protest the massive corruption and attacks on the political and economic well-being of the Honduran people (see the Honduras Solidarity Network statement below). The massive torchlight marches of thousands of Hondurans are continuing and the people continue to demand President Juan Orlando Hernandez's resignation and prosecution of all those responsible for the corruption. The marches also continue to denounce the attacks on the students, campesinos, indigenous and working people in general and the political repression. This is a time when the movement is re-accessing their tactics and possibilities for winning change. We will be publishing more analysis and information in upcoming posts. On July 27th the campesino movement supported by human rights defenders, social movements and LIBRE blocked highways around the country demanding agrarian reform (see article by Charity Crouse below).

Chabelo and his mother leaving the prison in CeibaPhoto via Dunia Aracely Pérez

On July 24th campesino political prisoner, Jose Isabel "Chabelo" Morales Lopez was released from prison pending another re-trial after his conviction was overturned. He has served almost 7 years in prison. His trial (the third trial!) ia currently scheduled for September 28 and La Voz de los de Abajo joins in the call for support for his permanent freedom. Pressure from international and Honduran human rights and social justice movements was crucial in winning his freedom and will be crucial for his definitive liberty. Please sign the petition HEREHere

On July 27, 2015 Hondurans Central Nacional de Trabajadores del Campo (CNTC), Frente Nacional de Resistencia Popular (FNRP), organizations comprising Via Campesino, and maquila workers from the village near Progreso blocked the highway between Tela and San Pedro Sula for four hours to compel the Honduran National Congress to address the myriad issues confronting campesino communities. These issues include the recent revelation of corruption by former Congress leader and current president Juan Orlando Hernandez of siphoning off millions of dollars from the Instituto Hondureno de Seguridad Social (IHSS) to fund his presidential campaign. This action corresponds to those for the last eight weeks by the movement which calls itself Indignados but it also includes long-standing policies of criminalizing land reform activists and targeting communities that tend the land. Currently, more than 5,000 face charges related to the land struggle while many more fight for recognition of land titles awarded since 2008. Farmers and their families are routinely evicted, imprisoned and have even been murdered as land rights are destroyed by the imposition of mining and other resource acquisition interests. Additionally, many of those with corporate and monied oligarchical family ties collude to dispossess entire communities of families of their sovereignty and their means of survival.

In 1962, sweeping land reform measures were passed in Honduras as part of the movement of farmers (campesinos) and indigenous people that united with workers throughout Latin America. These reforms enable communities that work land that was not specifically privately owned to be legally turned over to campesinos for future development. Little land was privately owned at the time and campesino communities and organizations grew throughout Honduras. The Instituto Nacional de Agricultura (INA) was established as an administrative body to coordinate land use practices and designations.

Throughout the 1980s, campesino communities and other leftist activists experienced extensive repression by right-wing governments dominated by an oligarchy who were the primary private landowners in the country and who controlled the private industry along with international companies like Standard Fruit. The U.S. military intervention in Central America in the 1980s basically occupied Honduras and supported the local oligarchy by training and supporting the Honduran troops and death squads that often tortured, disappeared and assassinated resistance leaders and members at their behest. Many of those oligarchs thrived by concentrating wealth and land usage through the proliferation of neoliberal free trade agreements like North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). While the development of industry offered job opportunities to many poor Hondurans, the agricultural and cultural base of the nation was dramatically altered as social movements that fought for human rights and economic and social justice were further repressed. Hundreds of human and environmental rights activists were assassinated.

For those working for the rights of the land and those who sustained it, this repression was codified in law with the passage of the Law of the Modernization of Agriculture in 1993. The Law of Modernization expanded the entrenchment and entitlement of private landowners and industrialists. In addition, the role of INA in mediating land usage issues was turned over to a newly-formed Council of Land and Property, which now regulates land registries and titles.

The impact has been debilitating for campesino communities. The proliferation of mining and hydroelectric interests that are often owned by foreign companies and officially incorporated and registered on property claimed by the oligarchy has increased to now encompass 35 percent of the public land of Honduras. That means that 35 percent of land once guaranteed to campesino communities has now been absorbed into the nexus of private landowner/corporate control. These concessions along with consolidation of agro and other business interests often operating under similar circumstances as the mines and dams, have corresponded with the increased militarization and expansion of the private security apparatus that forces campesino communities off their lands. Further militarization and security encroachments are often justified under the guise of fighting the War on Drugs, even as the government is implicated in collusion with the proliferation of the narco-traffickers, as revealed in a cable from the former U.S. Ambassador to Honduras leaked by Wikileaks. In practice, though, this security regime functions to safeguard private interests at the expense of entire communities. One more publicized and notable example is the ongoing struggle of the communities in the Aguan Valley that were violently repressed by the now-deceased Miguel Facusse.

Proceedings for campesino communities to assert their land rights are expensive, cumbersome, time-consuming and fraught with bureaucratic fraud. The arrests and prosecutions of campesinos takes time and resources away from the mostly impoverished communities.

CNTC campesinos detained in La Paz July 2015Photo Franklin Almendares

Photo Franklin Almendares

In April of 2014, the CNTC and other land reform activists proposed the Law of Integrated Agrarian Reform. The law seeks to dismantle the regressive provisions of the Law of Modernization and restore autonomy and legal security to the campesino communities of Honduras. Unfortunately, while the National Congress and its leaders were busy defrauding the Honduran people and dismantling their public systems, the bill languished in the Committee for Agricultural and Rural Development without being read. The status quo of mismanagement, bureaucratic corruption, collusion between the oligarchy and predatory foreign interests, and the divestment of Honduran wealth and resources that characterizes the current imbroglio over the IHSS has also played out in the land and agricultural policies. Not only has the health of the Honduran people been devastated by this disaster, but so too has the earth that provides the economic system that sustains the entirety of the nation.

As such, Hondurans together put their bodies on the line to stop not only the police and government, but also the whole system that divests Honduras of its health and wealth. As the momentum continues to build, let us take inspiration to act as we see communities merge into Honduras’ future direction, a direction that holds great lessons and promise for the future of the world.

As members of The Honduras Solidarity Network (HSN) of North America, we declare our solidarity with the many thousands of Hondurans who have been protesting for months with vigils, marches with torches, and an ongoing hunger strike. We support their demands for the resignation of President Juan Orlando Hernandez; the installation of an international independent commission (CICIH), to investigate the government corruption after the massive theft of hundreds of millions of dollars from the Honduran Social Security Institute (IHSS) by the ruling National Party; and a thorough investigation into the more than 3000 deaths in the health system during this crisis. This is a peoples’ movement in which the political opposition, the social movements, and the majority of the society are confronting obstacles to a better future for their country.

We recognize that this outrageous and extraordinary corruption is one more example of actions outside the law, and against all the democratic principles committed by the Honduran political and economic elite, supported by the US government, which began with the 2009 military coup, and has continued with the subsequent coup governments. The most recent corruption scandal comes after 6 years of attacks against human rights defenders, agrarian and indigenous activists, and the entire political and social opposition movement. It comes as part of an attempt to consolidate illegitimate power that includes the removal of more independent Supreme Court justices in 2012 when the current president was the head of Congress and the subsequent decision, after Hernandez came to power in 2014, by the new court to declare null and void the anti-reelection clause of the Honduran constitution.

We strongly condemn the fact that the US Government’s support for the regime in Honduras continues. In fact as corruption was devastating the public health system, creating conditions in which thousands of people died; as the Honduran people and a diverse political opposition united their voices demanding President Hernandez’s resignation, the US Ambassador announced, “Our relationship (with the Honduran government) has never been better”. We are deeply concerned that the very few statements/actions by the US government about impunity and corruption, such as the agreement brokered between Transparency International, Association for a More Just Society, and the Honduran government, are aimed at whitewashing the crimes of the Honduran regime with token investigations and the possible prosecution of a handful of officials in order to gain support in the US for the so called “Alliance for Prosperity” — the $1-billion dollar package proposed for the countries of the Northern Triangle under the Biden Plan in the U.S. Congress. The rise of the recent movement against corruption is a demonstration of the failure of the existing agreement.

We reject the common agenda the United States government shares with international corporations, the IMF and the Honduran oligarchy represented by Juan Orlando Hernandez. That agenda is an aggressive neoliberal program to privatize education, health care, and infrastructure while putting the country’s land and resources in the hands of foreign mining companies, hydroelectric, and mega-touristic projects, and powerful agribusiness interests. This agenda is backed up by the US economic and military power. As if to make clear its support for the regime the US recently sent another group of 300 Marines to Honduras and conducted military helicopter exercises even as the corruption scandal was being revealed.

We stand in solidarity also with the call from the indigenous, campesino, and trade union organizations, and other social sectors for solutions to the labor, agrarian, and territorial crises that affect their vulnerable members and communities. We are outraged and concerned about the criminalization of their movements and the ongoing violence against them which is the responsibility of the Honduran State.

We are profoundly concerned with the continuing attacks on, and obstruction of the work of human rights defenders and journalists, without whom the population is totally defenseless against impunity and corruption.

We support the demands of the Honduran people and we demand that the US government stop supporting militarization and impunity in Honduras now:

1. That President Obama and the US Congress immediately stop military and police training, and military aid to Honduras!

2. That the US Congress not pass or fund the Alliance for Prosperity or other taxpayer-funded schemes that further militarize governments and increase human rights violations.

3. That the US Embassy stop lending verbal and material support to the illegitimate government of President Juan Orlando Hernandez and instead demand of his administration an end to impunity and criminalization of human rights defenders and social movement leaders.

4. We continue to demand an investigation for all of the assassinations committed in Honduras since the military coup of 2009, and punishment for the both the intellectual and material authors of those crimes.

Get Email Updates - Reciba noticias por correo electrónico

News Sources / Fuentes de Noticias

Radio Progreso has radio updates (Spanish only) directly from the from the front-lines of the resistance in Honduras.

Une TV is one of the only independent national TV stations in Honduras

Rights Action has been doing good reporting and commentary as events unfold and has people on the ground monitoring the situation. They are also a reliable vehicle through which to get money to the organizations fighting for the restoration of democracy in Honduras.

Defensores en línea is the best (Spanish-only) online source for regularly updated information on the violation of human rights in Honduras.

Spanish - website of the Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras about the struggle of the Garifuna people and other resistance and environmental struggles.

School of the Americas Watch has good background information on the coup-plotters training at the Georgia-based School of the Americas / (also known as the School of Assasins) as well as news updates on the coup and a call to action.